


love's a stage on broadway

by shadowtraveled (meteorfest)



Series: Shadows on the Water [17]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Broadway, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-18
Updated: 2014-09-18
Packaged: 2018-02-17 20:43:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2322557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meteorfest/pseuds/shadowtraveled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy waits at the Underwood Cafe for his cast mate, Nico, to join him for coffee and a look at the reviews for the show they've just done. </p><p>Follow up to "backstage butterflies"; Broadway AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	love's a stage on broadway

**Author's Note:**

> So, as mentioned in the summary, this is the follow up to [backstage butterflies](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1676474), so if you haven't read that, it's suggested that you read it first. Otherwise you may be a little lost.
> 
> I may write more of this AU in the future, tbh, but we'll see about that.

The Underwood Cafe was a quaint little delicatessen with a view of Central Park. With a full vegetarian menu and some of the greatest baked goods in the city, it was a pretty popular place. Percy knew the owners, having been friends with Grover Underwood since he was a kid. Grover’s wife, Juniper, made the best blueberry scones that Percy had ever had the chance to indulge in.

Percy loved the place. It was part of why he’d asked Nico to meet him there. He wanted to be somewhere he was relaxed, could be comfortable with the younger actor. Admittedly, it wasn’t just coffee and a look at the printed reviews for  _Pantheon_ _!_  that had Percy asking the other boy to meet him at the cafe. He wanted to hang out with Nico outside of rehearsals and meetings and cast parties. He liked Nico, from what he knew of the boy from the time they’d spent working on the show.

It actually wouldn’t be that much of a stretch for Percy to say that he was attracted to Nico. Oh, Nico wasn’t his usual type, but there was something about him, the way Nico was so confident in his role, how he could command attention when he wanted to - there was a scene in the show that came to Percy’s mind, when “Hades” silenced the wails of troubled spirits; though the audience missed the details without visual aid, Percy had seen it every time when Nico would lift one slender finger to his lips, a soft shushing sound drifting from bowed lips. It sent a shiver u p Percy’s spine every time, how such a simple gesture, acted out from a script, could demand such thorough attention before Hades’ big solo piece.

Nico was a brilliant actor, putting his all into his role. Finding him had been an incredible stroke of luck, as their talent scout (and the actor portraying Apollo in  _Pantheon!)_ Will Solace had claimed. The boy had come to auditions straight after school and wowed not only Will, but Chiron, their director. After a couple days of deliberation, they’d called Nico in and had him audition with some of the rest of the cast. That was when Percy had first met the boy and he’d been intrigued by Nico di Angelo since.

After months of rehearsals, meetings, costume fittings, and singing the same songs every day until they could sing them in their sleep, the cast of  _Pantheon!_  had survived their first two showings the previous night and the printed reviews were out. Percy had one of them with him, sitting on the table in front of him. He now waited for Nico to meet him, as they’d arranged after the first show. Percy had arrived at 8:30, earlier than their 9:00 meeting time, so he could chat with Grover before Nico arrived.

He was sipping at his coffee and reading everything but the reviews when Nico came into the cafe. The teenager looked so different after the previous night; after surviving his debut, a lot of the tension he’d been carrying for weeks seemed to have melted out of his body. Though he wore a pair of black jeans and a dark t-shirt with the name of some metal band emblazoned on the chest, Nico still managed to project the same elegance that had made him such a convincing King of the Underworld in the show. The silver costume jewelry from the previous night was replaced with a simple black leather bracelet and a single silver skull ring on his right hand.

"Sorry, I’m a little late," Nico apologized. He was only ten minutes late, really, but Nico was rarely late; he’d always been early for rehearsals, ready to practice the moment he came.

"It’s okay," Percy reassured him. He gave the younger teen an easy smile, then turned to signal for one of the waitresses. "It’s the morning after a late showing, I know it’s hard to get anywhere by nine."

Nico gave a nod as he slid into the chair across from Percy. “Yeah. That and my father wanted to talk to me this morning.”

Percy remembered what Nico had said the previous night about his father. He’d said that his father had never thought much of Nico’s choice to go on Broadway. Nico had wanted to make him proud with his role in the show, to show his father that this was what he was good at. Percy knew that feeling; his previous step-father, Gabe, had always made fun of his interest in theatre, mocking Percy and telling him that he’d never make it, that Percy should pick a more manly career. Percy had done everything to prove Gabe wrong and, though his step-father had died several years ago now, his verbal abuse had only pushed Percy to prove himself.

"And what did he say?" Percy asked, prompting Nico to continue.

Nico didn’t answer right away, as the waitress arrived to take his order. He politely asked for a mocha with a sprinkle of cinnamon and one of the blueberry scones the cafe was known for. The waitress smiled at him and said she’d be back in a few minutes with his order. Once she was gone, Nico turned back to Percy, giving a faint smile that gave away his answer before he even spoke.

"He really enjoyed the show," he told Percy. His hands moved close together, the fingers of his left hand twisting the ring on his right as he ducked his head down, shoulders sagging in relief. "He said I surprised him, that he was proud of how I well I did."

A wide grin crossed Percy’s lips. “What did I tell you?”

Nico lifted his head again, the faint smile from before a little bigger this time. “I don’t think I could have done it without you, Percy. You believed in me. Thank you.”

Percy smiled back at him. “You’re welcome. But you really don’t owe me any thanks. All I did was tell you that you were amazing.”

Nico gave a slight nod, then paused for a moment. Percy tilted his head, watching the younger actor. It seemed like the teen was wondering something, the way Nico’s lower lip curled into his mouth and his teeth grazed the red flesh in thought. Percy noted that Nico was still twisting his ring.

"About the, ah - " Nico paused again as the waitress returned with his coffee and scone. He thanked her quietly, then reached for his coffee. It steamed, clearly fresh and plenty hot, but Nico didn’t hesitate to take a slow, if shallow, sip.

"Nico?"

Nico swallowed the coffee and set his mug down, fingers tapping against the ceramic. “The kiss you gave me,” he said, as if that was all he needed to say.

And really, what more  _needed_  to be said there? “I thought that would be obvious,” Percy replied. “I like you, Nico. That’s why I kissed you. That’s why I asked you to coffee this morning.”

"I thought you said it was so we could read the reviews together."

"And I said it was a date." Percy grinned at him. He slid the reviews towards Nico. "I mean, if you want to read the reviews with me, that’s great, but first, would you go out with me?"

Nico didn’t even hesitate to say yes.

* * * * *

It turned out that Nico had been harboring a crush on Percy since the older actor - nineteen to Nico’s seventeen - had introduced himself during Nico’s follow up audition. He’d never voiced this crush, since he’d believed at the time that Percy was dating Annabeth, the young woman who had the part of Athena in  _Pantheon!_. The truth was that Percy and Annabeth had dated for almost a year before breaking up; Annabeth was now dating Reyna, who portrayed the Queen of the Amazons.

After Nico had accepted Percy’s offer, it hadn’t taken long for the news to break out. With the show being a hit, it wasn’t easy keeping out of the spotlight and, by the end of the first week, the hashtag #PercicoLove started trending on Twitter. The young fans of the show jumped on the bandwagon, praising the couple and dedicating tumblr blogs to their relationship.

It was a little unnerving for the shy Hades actor, but he put up with it. The rest of the cast didn’t mind the focus on the couple, as it brought plenty of publicity. It wasn’t as though Percy and Nico were the only couple among the cast. Reyna and Annabeth were pretty popular themselves, as were Jason and his girlfriend, Piper. Will’s relationship with Mitchell, the teen portraying the mischievous Eros, was gaining popularity with the online community as well.

In the end, Percy and Nico were happy together. Even if candid pictures of them on their dates wound up all over tumblr and Mitchell, who was one of Nico’s closest friends from the cast, teased them mercilessly about their fangirls, they were happy. In spite of some people writing homophobic reviews, the show was still successful and Nico and Percy continued to perform their roles fantastically.

And if anyone thought they shouldn’t be together, it didn’t matter to them.


End file.
